Who Determines The `In' Color, Anyway?

October 03, 1989|By The Universal Press Syndicate

What color deities decide the fate of hues from which we choose towels, soap dishes, shower curtains, bed linens and blankets? Who are the soothsayers who figure what paints, wallcoverings, laminates, fabrics, rugs and mugs will work together aesthetically?

If you sometimes suspect there's some sort of color SWAT team that nukes the very shades you've just used to cover your walls and reupholster your sofa, you're partly right.

In this country there are two key organizations that meet, hash out all possible permutations and combinations, and develop chips and charts that forecast color directions several years in advance.

The color industry is a formidable one. Because so many dollars are at stake and because so many manufacturers rely on one another, there has to be some sort of alliance.

The non-profit, international Color Marketing Group, based in Washington, D.C., comprises about 1,000 representatives from every industry concerned with color, from automotive to apparel to stationery manufacturers. Its members are designers, stylists and product managers who travel widely with a keen eye on what hues are in the marketplace (everything from lipsticks to soup ladles), on what is selling and what has peaked. Ultimately, they might say, we have ourselves to blame for what ends up on the charts since our tastes and attitudes figure prominently into the market research.

The 73-year-old Color Association of the United States is a by-invitation-only group of 12 selected by the board for their outstanding color ability in diverse fields. Members include fashion designer Mary McFadden, textile designers Jay Yang and Jack Lenor Larsen, colorist Barbara Schirmeister, several interior designers, and representatives from Karastan Rug Mills and from fabric and wallcovering manufacturers.

The group meets twice a year and projects about three years ahead.

In addition, there are hundreds of professional color consultants and specialists whose job it is to keep abreast of color directions and advise manufacturers on product development.

Also available are the services of the Pantone Color Institute, a non-profit organization launched in 1985 to compile research on the psychology of color, societal color trends and the manner in which individuals react with color. The parent company is Pantone Inc., the world's largest producer of color specification materials.

In the '90s, we can expect a general warming trend, in which various shades of yellow and red figure prominently. Many hues will be punched up, assuming clearer, brighter values.

"This is newsworthy because colorful often was synonymous with bad taste," said Margaret Walch, associate director of the Color Association. "We'll also see what I call no-color color, the pervasiveness of white or very pale, pale pastels. Not just bleached white or ivory, but every variation imaginable, including dirty white.

"In addition," said Walch, "there will be new blended colors, called complex colors. Complex color is any color difficult to put your finger on. It may be a celadon, but not quite; a periwinkle, but not quite, and so on. It's also color in combination, viewed dimensionally as a finish, a weave, whatever," she explained.

Some of this use of color is already showing up in upholstery fabrics, particularly tapestries, that have become enormously popular in the past two years. A current Clarence House bargello pattern, for example, brings together golds, greens, browns, blues, roses and even black in a striking, fresh combination.

These concepts are translated into the following categories:

* The brights. Here come the exotic, ethnic influences from Africa, the Middle East, the South Pacific, India, Mexico, Guatemala and the American Southwest that might conjure up thoughs of serapes, salsa, the Casbah and Gauguin. Color Association's Jay Yang, a textile designer, says these colors remind him of curry cooking - hot and spicy. They include: red coral, russet, tangelo, saffron, bronze and cinnamon. Color vibrants include: orchid, turquoise and parrot green.

* Old-world colors. Hunter green, berry reds, plum, gold and green. "The antiques market has boomed," said Barbara Schirmeister, color consultant and designer for Villeroy & Boch, Wilsonart, Tupperware, Hunter Douglas and Ultrasuede. "Hence the interest in reviving rich colors, actually period colors. But they're modified so they're not overbearing and dingy. As we approach the century's end, these familiar colors make us feel comfortable. While we want to move on, we still can't let go of the past."

Traditionally, color filters down from fashion to interiors to industrial uses with a time lag of about two or three years.

Perhaps consumers are not as fickle about sofas as they are about their hemlines, the width of their lapels, or the way a collar spreads on a shirt, but the home furnishings industry no longer is static.